Positions of Trust
As one of our key manifesto asks, Thirtyone:eight are calling for the introduction position of trust legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland to consider all environments where 16- and 17-year-olds engage with adults who have a position of responsibility over them.
"Positions of Trust legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland is primarily focused on roles within statutory services. It doesn’t include other areas where children engage with adults such as tutors, church groups, or sports groups. We'd like to see equal protection for children across the UK.”
- Justin Humphreys, Joint-CEO, Thirtyone:eight
The Opportunity
Children and young people receive care or support services from adults in various settings. These adults are in a unique and important relationship with the children they interact with. Existing Positions of Trust legislation (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) gives children and young people a level of protection by acting as a powerful deterrent and holding these adults accountable if they exploit their position towards a child to sexually abuse them. For this to be effective, it needs to apply to any role that holds a similar level of trust and responsibility across all sectors and settings.
The Challenge
Although there are provisions in the legislation across the UK to address abuse of positions of trust, loopholes still exist across legislation across the UK. Further provisions need to be added to positions of trust legislation to include all settings where young people engage with adults in positions of trust over them. There is also an opportunity in Scotland to extend the definition further to include faith leaders and sport coaches, as has already been done in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Our Recommendations
- Align positions of trust legislation in Scotland with the amended position in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, to incorporate sport and faith roles within positions of trust law.
- Update Abuse of Positions of Trust legislation to apply to all environments where young people aged 16 and 17 engage with adults in roles that are responsible for caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of them.
- Supplement the current list of potential settings and roles by making the purpose, nature and context of the relationship between the adult and child the factor which brings a role under the scope of law.
- Bring greater parity between Positions of Trust and Regulated Activity through amending the respective definitions and removing the 'frequency', 'intensity' and 'supervision' requirements.
